'Chunks' are the colloquial name for the nuggets of mineral-rich ore that form in the cores of ringroids. They are so common that many spacecraft operating within the rings are exclusively designed with their spherical forms in mind.
The asteroid impact of 2184 with the then-in-construction Enceladus Prime revealed anomalous mineral concentrations within the A Ring, the primary elements of which are listed below. Note that all ore chunks contain a significant amount of ice, and that their average mass and purity increase as one goes deeper into the rings.
The graph provides general information on the minerals, including frequency, average chunk masses that you'd expect, the average purities of the ore chunks (how much mineral per total mass), and the average cost in metric tonnes.
| Element | Frequency | Average chunk mass | Average chunk purity | Average price
per metric tonne |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iron (Fe) | Very common | 7,500 kg | 60% | 900 E$ |
| Palladium (Pd) | Common | 4,000 kg | 52% | 2,500 E$ |
| Platinum (Pt) | Common | 4,000 kg | 76% | 2,700 E$ |
| Vanadium (V) | Common | 3,000 kg | 82% | 3,000 E$ |
| Tungsten (W) | Infrequent | 3,000 kg | 50% | 6,500 E$ |
| Beryllium (Be) | Rare | 1,000 kg | 76% | 20,500 E$ |